Flight Attendants Reveal 17 Secrets That Airlines Won't Tell You

We’re a big fan of revealing secrets here. These makes for great life hack knowledge as you know. Plus, we’re just naturally curious as to what people are thinking on the job. Everyone has different experiences (often funny ridiculous ones we hope) and we can only imagine the many type of flight passenger experience these cabin-crew/flight attendants have been through.

Booking your next travel soon? DO use these available coupon codes for Hotels.com, Priceline, CheapOAir and Booking.com to save on your vacation. Added discounts to your low priced fare is the way to go!

Based on answers to the same question from forums like Quora and Reddit: “What are secrets passengers don’t know?”

While we understand that specific rules and regulations are different for every airlines, here are some interesting tidbits from the flight crew themselves.

1. “If the oxygen masks drop down, you only have about 15 minutes of oxygen from the point of pulling them down. However, that is more than enough time for the pilot to take us to a lower altitude where you can breathe normally.” - jezalenko

2. “Mobile electronic devices won't really bring an airplane down but they can be really annoying to pilots. Just imagine sitting in the flightdeck descending to your destination and hearing the interference of a 100+ cellphones picking up a signal. I have missed a clearance or 2 that way.” - Virgadays

3. “The captain has almost limitless authority when the doors are closed. He is allowed to arrest people, write fines and even take the will of a dying passenger. - Virgadays

4. “We only get paid when the main cabin door is closed. I make less than 20K a year. This is common.” - OMEGA_AS_****

5. “TSA Pre-Check: you get to bypass pretty much everyone, leave your shoes on, your laptop in your bag, and don't have to take out your small liquid containers.

To get TSA Pre-Check you need to be recommend to the TSA by an airline (meaning you need to be a very frequent flyer)

OR you can apply for GlobalEntry, which makes getting through customs a breeze (GlobalEntry fee is waived for frequent flyers)” - Grifachu

6. “Apparently the American Express lounges are now free to platinum and black card members. These lounges have free spas and food. I hear the drinks are free too but I don't know for sure. There is one in terminal D of DFW that just opened and one in the Las Vegas airport. If you have a platinum or black card you should check them out instead of going to the regular airline lounges.” - Grifachu

7. “If you have United miles and have enough for business class saver award and Asiana is going your route, take Asiana over United. Their planes are mainly 2 cabin while United is typically 3 so you can get first class seats for 35,000 miles instead of 100,000 on United.” - kwong83

8. “(Regarding Lufthansa Airlines) Do not EVER drink water on an aircraft that did not come from a bottle. Don't even TOUCH IT. The reason being the ports to purge lavatory shit and refill the aircraft with potable water are within feet from each other and sometimes serviced all at once by the same guy. Not always, but if you're not on the ramp watching, you'll never know.” - gruntman

9. “Customer service agents will bend over backwards to help you when you take the time to be respectful and courteous. I cannot tell you how many times I have broken a rule or made an exception for someone just because they were nice about it.” - mollyberry

10. “We are required by law to offer up to $1300.00 in a check if we involuntarily deny you boarding due to an overbooked flight.” - mollyberry

11. “Airlines who provide headphones like the one in the picture below hardly or even NEVER bother to replace the foamy-like ear parts. So please ALWAYS tear them once you use them just to make sure that they will replace them.” - Fatihah Sudewo

12. “If you're one of those who have a big heart in giving up your seat for whatever reason without making a scene, we treat you 'special' -we would give you 2 bread rolls instead of one, a whole can of soda instead of rationing it, basically we would compensate you for your kindness.” - Fatihah Sudewo

13. “The real reason why you need to put your laptop away during landing is because you may harm yourself or others if the plane touches down too hard.” - Maria Andre

14. “The biggest thing is if you need to go on a flight, make a connection. The price difference can be hundreds if not thousands. Don't believe me?

Try going Cleveland (CLE) to NY LaGuardia (LGA). It is usually $500 for the round. Now do the flight out of Pittsburgh (PIT), only an hour and a half drive away, $150 round for the same exact flight +1 leg.

The reason is the hub and spoke system. By taking the direct flight only you are taking up a seat that a connecting passenger could have, plus convenience. So if you have a small airport not too far away go through there. Its one of the biggest dirty little secrets of the airline industry.” - jskoker

15. “Military here, military only flying trick: if you have a long layover go to the Delta Lounge and show your Military ID to the nice receptionist guarding the Upper Class privileged to get into the First Class waiting lounge and enjoy free snacks and a quiet environment for the few hours you are holed up at the airport waiting for your next flight. I have done so successfully both in and out of uniform and even when not flying Delta.” - ReversePolish

16. “As you may have read, there is an astonishing amount of information kept from passengers (we had to drop in altitude to avoid another plane, called it "bumpy air").” - unknown

17. “All the weird little rules are for specific reasons.

1) Lights off for take-off and landing: in case of emergency you have (a bit of) night vision.

2) Seatbelts on if not moving around: Clear Air Turbulence can hit without warning and drop the plane 100ft in a second. Your head will hit the ceiling, hard.

3) Electronics off on take-off and landing: it's so you're paying attention in case of emergency.

4) Window covers open on take-off and landing: so the emergency services can see inside the aircraft if needed.

5) Broken leg? Want the exit seat for extra legroom? Tough. Exit seats have to be occupied by fit healthy people who can open the door in a hurry.

6) Seats upright and tray stowed for take-off/landing: because if anything happens and the plane hits with a thump, you will break your face - or the passenger behind you will.

7) The safety demo by the attendants: you might know all that, but first-time flyers do not. Legal liability. And in real accidents, even frequent flyers panic and cannot undo their seatbelt.” - MarkMcA

Well... how do you feel about this? Anyone a flight attendant, crew member or pilot who can confirm?

MORE TRAVEL HACKS FOR YOU:

I wanna be the very best like no one ever was. Couponing is my real test, to cut them is my cause. I will travel across the land, searching far and wide. Each store to understand, the discounts that's inside.